ABSTRACT
Javanese batik has emerged as a rare and exotic art form over the past 150 years, although its origins are ancient and widespread. Java is a trade route island. For hundreds of years the Javanese coast has lain at a crossroads of trade, near the course sailed by Marco Polo, Magellan, Sir Francis Drake and St Francis Xavier. Over the last 2,000 years Java has been influenced by a succession of religions - Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam - and waves of colonization - by Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch and English. Each of these influences left its imprint on Javanese culture and the development of batik.
